The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-10-19
FOOT WEAR.
THE GREAT STRIDES MADE IN
SHOEMAKING.
The Man of the Lapstone Has BE
come the Shoemaking Witch or
To-day-Greater Cheapness
-ARevolutionized Trade.


the Mckay machines, in 1862, it is the
slow progress made by shoemakers dur;
ing the sixteen centuries that interveneo
between the days of st. Crispin and the
later date. The old fashioned bench,
still used by cobblcrs and small work
men, and around which, when urchlns,
many now living but not Old men have
watched the progress of their new shoes
with the conviction that shoemakerS
were the most untruthful men in exist
ence must, from all evidence, have had a
very remote origin.
Even vet the old-fashioned shoemaker
fingers, though not by any means super
fluous, on the stage. The sign of the
golden boot has not yet quite vanished.
Scattered all over this city, and every
other city, may still be found numberiess
small shops which may now be called
museums for most of the old-fashioncd
implements of shoemaking, and where
the traditional shoemaker, leather aproneo
and bare armed, still reigns. But the
dignity of his calling has departed. He
must confine himself mainly to the recon
structlon of old shoes, practicing his art
in completeness in the meantime only
during spare hours, when he may prepare
for some chance customer, who will be
captiyated with the sometimes unhappy
idea of an entirely handmade pair OF
shoes. A few large shops also, that pro,
duce much of their work in their old
yay, vet remain, but they are crippled
by the perpetual avalanche that pours
down from the great factories and over
8helms everything in its track.
No industrial revolution was ever
more complete than the revolution which
has taken place in shoemaking during the
last twenty-five years. The cobbler we
shall always have with us; but the shoe,
maker has almost completely changed
his form. 1t is to be feared, too, that he
is no longer entitled to claim the protec-
ton of his tutelar St. Crispin, for ne
has become the servant of witch. AND
such a witch! Driven to its highest
capacity, a single Mckay machine has
been known to clap the soles upon 1,2OO
pairs of new shoes within ten hours, ana
It takes 800 hands, working in great
mart with vet other ingenious labor-sav-
ing machines, to feed one of these In
safiable stitchers, and clear away the
tables after it has finished. 1t will be
seen, therefore, that the Mckay machine
is not only witch itself, but that it is
a boss witch. In the best-provided shops
the side stitching, heeling and even the
lasting are done by subsidiary machines,
and so also would be the cutting were ii
not for the imperfections of the leather.
which demand the services of a practised
eve in selecting the parts that are nit tol
use. Yet the work is done with so LITTLE
effort that motor of single horse power
would drive half dozen or more of the
Mckay machines at one and the same
time. ,. -,
who would believe that within mile
and half of the City Hall, mainly, in
deed, within quarter of mile of tha
place, there are almost as many firms o.
shoe manufacturers as are to be found II
either of the cities of Lynn or Haver
hill! The statement would not be be-
lieved were it not possible to furnish the
figures. But it is quite possible. There
are 1856 firms in Lynn, 17S in Haverhill
and 172 in New York. In New YORK
the factories are massed in Duane, Read'
and Warren streets, with a skirmish lint
extending northward to some distance
beyond Canal street. 1t should be said
however, that about twenty-five of th'
factories owned by New York firms arr
located outside of the city, though main
" in the vicinity. One is in Haverhill
We have also what Lynn has not yet be
come sufficiently aesthetic to appreciate
There are two factories in New Yorl
that give their attention almost exclu
sively to theatrical and operatic togs, anc
export to Europe. =,
But Lynn will boast of the size of he
factories, and point to the annual value
of her new shoes as evidence of her gen
eral superiority. 1t is certain that sh'
has some pretty large factories, and cal
point to one firm that turns out 10, OO(
pairs of shoes each day. But there is
firm in New York that produces shoes tt
the value of about 81, 900, 900 annually
and there are others that run we'll VI
among the hundreds of thousands. Esti
mates differ on the comparative value o
the products of the two cities, but in thi
respect we must concede to Lynn long
lead over the metropolis. Judging from
the report of goods shipped through Bos
ton between the first of last January ant
last of August, and giving to Lynn ne
probable proportion of the total, he
annual product cannot amount to mucl
less than $25, 900, 900, while the annua
product of New York is not estimated a
more than $40, 900, 900. But New York
on the other hand, is the fine art centre
On the average one pair of her shoes
worth two pairs of Lynn shoes. and he
shoemakers are all fat and wcll-fed. Tn
New York workmen do not work so fas
as the Lynn workmen. One machine i
Lynn turns out about 500 pairs of shoe
day, while in New York singl
machine can only be fed up to capacit
of 800 pairs day, the metropolitan shoe
makers, apparently, being too fat.
It has been said that the capacity c
the shoe manufacturing plant in tn
United States is equal in three months
the market demands of one entire year
This may be true so far as the shoemaS
ing machines are concerned, but it is ey
idently not true when the question
skilled workmen for feeding and opel
ating the machines is involved. Sa
that the manufacturers in this city max mi,
10000 pairs Of shoes each year. Ihs
would be about the proper estimate o
q valuation Of $40, 1000, 900. But thel
are 800, 900 pairs of feet in New lor
city alone, and they would manage to g
through with pretty nearly 4,OOO'oC
pairs of shoes in one year, even wei